Laurel Uhlar's Staging Area

Generic medal. No H2O station set up at MM 8 – it was over 90 degrees. One water station had empty water jugs. I used my cell phone to call a friend who had finished the 5K. She found the RD, to relay my message that people were sitting on the ground and appeared to be heat casualties, because of the heat and lack of water. She begged him to get water to the runners. He was very dismissive and told her there was plenty of water. Absolutely untrue. And I never saw any race personnel checking on runners. Most of us were walking by mile 10… just trying to get to water. A long portion of this race was without shade. There was supposed to be gatorade at either one or possibly two water stops. No gatorade anywhere. Got a bottle of water and banana at finish line. I had to beg to get a second bottle of water. The medal was beyond generic. My friend got an email from the race Director a couple of days after the race supposedly accounting for all the screw ups in the horror story that was this race. I didn’t even get that – she had to forward her email to me. It was not an apology, and there were no discounts or anything offered as compensation for the terrible management of this race. The Facebook page for this race was flooded with negative reviews. All those negative reviews disappeared. Hmmm. I wanted to run the Mississippi Blues half marathon – but saw it has been taken over by Premier Event Mgmt. I checked out the reviews for that race on this page. Unsurprisingly, the reviews have tanked ever since management was taken over by PEM. I always check to see who is running a race. I will never ever run another event by PEM. The Nashville Women’s half marathon has the potential to be fun. Instead, it was a safety hazard. They can’t help that the weather was awful for a race. They should’ve been out there bringing more water out… Setting up extra water stations. Having bicyclists or golf carts follow the runners to check for heat cases. Actually manning the water stations instead of leaving water jugs here and there. I have run really hot or really cold races before. The mark of good management is that they anticipate and respond to weather issues. I wish the race I’ve been managed by another company.